The Romanovs: 1613-1918

The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of 20 tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition.

Frankenstein

Narrator Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) presents an uncanny performance of Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel, an epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.

Stein on Writing: A Master Editor Shares His Craft, Techniques, and Strategies

Stein on Writing provides immediately useful advice for writers of fiction and nonfiction, whether newcomers or accomplished professionals. As Sol Stein, renowned editor, author, and instructor, explains, "This is not a book of theory. It is a book of usable solutions, how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place."

Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language

In Becoming Fluent, Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz draw on insights from psychology and cognitive science to show that adults can master a foreign language if they bring to bear the skills and knowledge they have honed over a lifetime. Adults shouldn't try to learn as children do, they should learn like adults. Roberts and Kreuz report evidence that adults can learn new languages even more easily than children.

Faust

Goethe's masterpiece and perhaps the greatest work in German literature, Faust has made the legendary German alchemist one of the central myths of the Western world. Here indeed is a monumental Faust, an audacious man boldly wagering with the devil, Mephistopheles, that no magic, sensuality, experience or knowledge can lead him to a moment he would wish to last forever.

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

The sun is setting on the Western world. Slowly but surely, the direction in which the world spins has reversed: where for the last five centuries the globe turned westward on its axis, it now turns to the east.... For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the West - in the New World of the Americas. Today it is the East that calls out to those in search of adventure and riches. The region stretching from Eastern Europe and sweeping right across Central Asia, deep into China and India, is taking center stage.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

This fictionalized portrait of Joyce's youth is one of the most vivid accounts of the growth from childhood to adulthood. Dublin at the turn of the century provides the backdrop as Stephen Dedalus moves from town and society, towards the irrevocable decision to leave. It was the decision made by Joyce himself which resulted in the mature novels of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of the most extraordinary - and important - texts in Western philosophy. It was written by Friedrich Nietzsche between 1883 and 1885. He cast it in the form of a novel in the hope that his urgent message of the 'death of God' and the rise of the superman (Ubermensch) would have greater emotional as well as intellectual impact.

The Passions: Philosophy and the Intelligence of Emotions

Conventional wisdom suggests there is a sharp distinction between emotion and reason. Emotions are seen as inferior, disruptive, primitive, and even bestial forces. These 24 remarkable lectures suggest otherwise-that emotions have intelligence and provide personal strategies that are vitally important to our everyday lives of perceiving, evaluating, appraising, understanding, and acting in the world.

The Beautiful and the Damned

Published in 1922, Fitzgerald's second novel chronicles the relationship of Anthony Patch, Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete, and his beautiful wife, Gloria, as they await to inherit his grandfather's fortune. A devastating satire of the nouveaux rich and New York's nightlife, of reckless ambition and squandered talent, it is also a shattering portrait of a marriage fueled by alcohol and wasted by wealth. The Beautiful and the Damned, Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda in 1930, "was all true."

Madame Bovary

Emma Bovary, a doctor's wife, seeks an escape from her dull life through having extra-marital affairs. Flaubert's novel scandalized its readers when it was first published in 1857, and it remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society.

The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis

What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology.

Publisher's Summary

The Sorrows of Young Werther was Goethe's first major success, turning him from an unknown into a celebrated author practically overnight. Napoleon Bonaparte considered it one of the great works of European literature. He thought so highly of it that he wrote a soliloquy in Goethe's style in his youth and carried Werther with him on his campaigning to Egypt. It also started the phenomenon known as the "Werther-Fieber" ("Werther Fever") which caused young men throughout Europe to dress in the clothing style described for Werther in the novel.

Werther made Goethe one of the first international literary celebrities. Towards the end of his life, a personal visit to Weimar became crucial to any young man's tour of Europe. Werther was an important novel of the Sturm und Drang period in German literature, and influenced the later Romantic literary movement.

Would you try another book written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or narrated by Jim Donaldson?

Goethe: yes. Donaldson: no.

This was a massive best-seller in the 18th century and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The introduction is brilliant. The story itself is overly slow and melodramatic for modern tastes. It might have been more enjoyable if the reader had taken a bit more care to study passages first.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Charlotta -- beautiful and full of life -- but a bit one-dimensional.

What didn’t you like about Jim Donaldson’s performance?

He often uses the wrong phrasing which doesn't help when you're trying to understand prose written a few centuries ago. And he often reads one person's dialogue in another characters voice. In addition, words like "foliage" and "whilst" and the German word "Herr" are consistently mispronounced, which is very distracting.

Could you see The Sorrows of Young Werther being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

It would need to be transposed to a different time period to be a success as a movie or TV series.

Any additional comments?

Choose a more modern translation and get someone like Alfred Molina to read it.

For a meditative, melancholy book that inspired copycat suicides in its heyday -- nearly two an a half centuries ago -- this book absolutely holds up.

Literature and art of all kinds in this vein risk coming off as petulant, whiny, and -- in modern parlance -- "emo"; but this book avoids those pitfalls and achieves -- and maintains -- an insightful, touching, and brilliant narrative.

Timeless and heartbreakingly relatable.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

january

Rock Hill, SC

23/04/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"This reminds me of an ex-boyfriend...or two"

Girls, how many times have you had this, or a similar, conversation?

Him: But, why?You: Because, I just don't like you that way.Him: But how do you know? You haven't even given me a chance.

This is usually followed by begging and pleading, late night phone calls "just to hear your voice" and random flowers showing up at your doorstep. It would seem that boys haven't changed much in a couple hundred years. Or maybe it's just me and I shouldn't have dated all those moody artists in college.

The above is the basic story in this book. It was written in 1774 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This book was an artistic expression of his own life. He had become infatuated with a woman named Charlotte, who rejected him and married someone else. The Sorrows of Young Wether is an epistolary novel, written in letters, all from the main character, Werther, to his good friend, Wilhelm. The letters read like a diary, becoming increasingly disturbed as Wether's hopes of winning over Charlotte become more remote.

Jim Donaldson is a great narrator. His performance becomes more and more emotional as the book progresses, following along with the characters moods, until he sounds like he's a crying, blubbering mess. He makes you really see the emotions. But it is somewhat uncomfortable to listen to.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Michael

Walnut Creek, CA, United States

10/03/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Historically Interesting but no Faust"

This was an interesting and a very influential example of Storm & Stress proto-romanticism and of early Goethe. The narration was also very good, but I did not find this work as timeless or moving as Faust or later classical romantic novels. I found the characters and situations quite overdone, like an eighteenth century soap opera. If you like flawed and tragic romantic heroes perhaps you will enjoy this story. I really liked the brief Ossian poems near the end. I am glad I listened to this, but only for the literary, cultural and historical aspects.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Nicholas S. Terui

San Diego, CA USA

15/06/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"passion and sorrow"

Poor Young Werther emulates the irrational yet passionate in this tale that brings you back a couple of hundred years. Goethe depicts the comfortable life of a likeable Werther, who once falls in love, cannot be satisfied by anything else. I enjoyed the story and the format of this book very much. The narration as well as short interludes between entries were nice and gave a somber yet sweet dramatic effect.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Karen L.

20/02/16

Overall

"I got this only because I visited Goethe's house in Weimar."

So, this book was mentioned in the tour. Goethe and Schiller made Weimar its World Heritage renown and gave Germany a literary heritage. I'm glad I listened to it, but won't give it a second hearing. I keep thinking of what some critic called Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye--a "tiresome adolescent.." Granted, Werther is an important, older adolescent who provokes some psychological analysis. The book is worth a listen for history buffs.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sparky

31/03/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"I enjoyed it!"

When you hear that Napoleen read it no less than 7 times, you have to read this!It did not let me down

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.